Tradition Never Graduates - Chrystal Okonta ’06

Published: June 3, 2024

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, did you wonder about wiping down your groceries after a shopping trip? Now, do you worry about whether food that’s been sitting out for a while is still safe to eat? Or are you confused about how to safely cook chicken to avoid illness?

Food safety is a concern that Chrystal Okonta ’06 can confidently address. Chrystal spent more than two years – mostly during COVID– working for the USDA as a technical information specialist, developing food safety communication campaigns and answering food safety inquiries from consumers. 

Today, Chrystal works with FGS Global in Washington DC as a director and health communications consultant. In this role, she helps health clients, including biotech companies, advocacy groups and hospital systems, tell their stories, translating scientific and industry jargon into straightforward language.

Chrystal’s path to health communications was not a straight one. “After NDA, I originally planned to major in biochemistry, and thought I’d work in a lab doing something like AIDS research,” she explains. “But it turned out that I did not enjoy chemistry in college, and lab work wasn’t engaging as I had expected.” 

At Washington University in St. Louis, Chrystal earned her undergrad degree in biology with a minor in public health (and a second minor in Spanish). She loved her experience at Wash U so much that she ended up returning to Wash U, where she worked as an Admissions Officer for several years. 

But Chrystal knew she wanted to get back into public health – and she graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with her Master’s in Public Health Education and Promotion in 2019. 

Grad school has been Chrystal’s favorite part of her career journey so far. “Grad school was really a choice for me – where I went to school, what I studied was all up to me,” she shares. “In grad school, you need to know what you want and why you’re there. I had an amazing advisor who helped me through the experience, and we’re still connected today.”

As she goes through her career – and life – it’s important for Chrystal to treat every opportunity as a learning opportunity. “I was humbled in college, and needed to learn how to differentiate what I was good at versus what I wanted,” says Chrystal. “I credit NDA with giving me the confidence to handle these experiences, even failures. Learning to deal with setbacks was a HUGE step for me.”

Chrystal shares that she’s still a “work in progress,” and hopes to continue to work to help solve problems that the general public may not even know exist. A return to government or public work could be in her future, as she reflects on what she wants to accomplish. “Your story is all part of who you are,” she shares. “And my story is still just beginning!”